That precisely defines No.2 Oregon's 43-21 win at Arizona State on Thursday (more on that later).

Still, the win preceded the Ducks' slide from third to fourth in the latest Bowl Championship Series standings.

As
coach Chip Kelly reiterated again Sunday night, the BCS standings don't
mean much until December when the cream rises to the top and into
conference championship games to decide BCS berths.

What matters
more now is that the Ducks are simply not being challenged at all.
That's all fine and good for the sake of establishing dominance. But for
entertainment value, it leaves a lot to be desired. It also raises the
question as to whether or not UO would be battle-tested enough to answer
the call in the fourth quarter of a close game.

Oregon
linebacker Michael Clay doesn't believe the team, especially the
veteran-laden defense, will be impacted by a lack of practice dealing
with second-half drama.

"We know how to grind it out for four quarters," Clay said.

The
closest Oregon has come to grinding on anything other than the brakes
in the second half of potentially embarrassing laughers came during a
42-25 win at home over Fresno State on Sept.15. Oregon led 35-19 with
9:40 remaining in the game. But that came after Oregon had sprinted to a
35-6 halftime lead.

Clay did say that Oregon could have done
better in games such as that and Thursday's against ASU to not allow
opponents to make blowouts appear closer than they were.

"We
want to finish better," Clay said. "We don't want to let two cheap
scores get in there on us. ... It might come down to a late game so we
need to finish better."

It would be difficult for a team to start better than Oregon did on Thursday.

The
game was over -- as in, it would take a miracle for the Sun Devils
(5-2) to come back over -- when UO took a 43-7 lead with 11:33 left in
the second quarter.

Prior to the game, a seemingly endless
string of late-arriving headlights could be seen beyond Sun Devil
Stadium stretching toward the highway. By halftime, a line of taillights
could be seen vacating the eye of Hurricane Oregon.

To put what
Oregon did into perspective, first consider that ASU ranked first in
the Pac-12 in nearly every important defensive category.

Then
consider that no national champion for at least 10 years has so
thoroughly dominated a winning conference opponent on the road as Oregon
did. In fact, it hasn't even happened in a home game for an eventual
champion.

In 2008, Florida led Kentucky (5-2 at the time) 42-0
at halftime and won 63-5. But that was at home and the Gators didn't
reach 42 until -- wait for it -- the 26-second mark of the second
quarter.

Pathetic.

In 2005, Texas won 70-3 at Colorado
(7-5 at the time). That's certainly a much larger victory than Oregon's
over Arizona State. But the Longhorns led "just" 28-3 at the 11:37 mark
of the second quarter before taking a 52-3 lead at halftime.

One has to ask, what took them so long to break 30?

In
2004, USC took a 42-7 lead into halftime against Arizona State (5-1)
after jumping to a 21-0 at the 13:21 mark in the second quarter. USC won
45-7.

No wonder former Trojans quarterback Matt Leinart didn't pan out in the NFL.

Sarcasm
aside, the point here is that what Oregon did Thursday was
off-the-charts dominant. Enough to make scoreboard operators shudder at
the thought of Oregon playing its starters for four quarters in such
contests.

Yet, and still, the Ducks slipped in the polls because
their schedule strength pales in comparison to Alabama (first in the
BCS), Florida (second) and Kansas State (third).

Also lacking is Oregon's minutes logged in meaningful games where true competition stretches into the second half.

Fortunately
for Oregon, it will have a chance to impress the computers with games
remaining at No.10 USC, at home against No.19 Stanford and at No.7
Oregon State.

But what the Ducks might need more than anything is a game that challenges them to dig deep 50 minutes into a game.

One has to wonder if the Ducks, with a young offense, would even remember what to do in such a situation.